( 6 ) 



ON 



THE CORAL 



OF 



SUMATRA. 



TF this paper should be deemed worthy of a place in 

 the Transactions of the Asiatic Society, the inser- 

 tion I must still consider as an indulgence, and my 

 attempt, a proof that I am more anxious than able, to 

 encrease the general stock of Eastern natural know- 

 ledge, recorded in the useful annals of the Society. 

 Specimens of coral, for your acceptance, and for the 

 illustration of this subject, are now forwarded. 



The appearance of &umatran coral does not alto- 

 gether correspond with the descriptions of the plant 

 hitherto given *. This induces me to describe such 

 parts as are imperfectly repre c ented. The plant, to 

 which the various species of coral belong, is one of 

 the Cryptogams of Linnaeus, and may be reckoned 

 one of the Herbs Marins of Tournefort ; of the Herbs 

 imperfects of Mr. Ray. It may be reduced to three 

 colours, red, black, and whitish-yellow : the last is 

 the most common in the Eastern seas. It is of a 

 fungous texmre, equally hard out of and in its natu- 

 ral element ; and its pores are charged with a juice of 



!| See the remark at ihe end of this paper. 



a milky 



